


in the starlight

by starraya



Category: Luna Nera
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:26:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22976113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starraya/pseuds/starraya
Summary: A series of moments between Tebe and Leptis.
Relationships: Tebe/Leptis
Comments: 20
Kudos: 582





	1. Chapter 1

_**The Letter** (set after they rescue the other girls but before Valente leaves to kill Sante) _

Tebe writes that she is writing this letter to be opened upon her death. With each passing moon, she fears the danger grows.

She writes that she is thankful Leptis stayed out of battle and within the Lost Cities, as she requested. Sometimes she sees Leptis teaching Valente how to shoot and she remembers how Leptis taught her once, many moons ago. Tebe jokes how, on the day they fought, she regretted making Leptis her new sword for their last anniversary.

She writes that she loves Leptis and has only ever loved her. She requests that, upon her death, if her body can be recovered without the action endangering the lives of Leptis or the other women that it be brought back to the Lost Cities for the Last Rituals. She wishes to bequeath her medallion to Persepolis and believes she will become a powerful witch even without the necklace. All her other possessions, her rings and books and amulets, she leaves to Leptis.

She ends the letter by writing that she understands if Leptis leaves the Lost Cities, if she seeks a new life elsewhere. Tebe stops writing when she hears Janara call for her. She forgets about the letter until it is nighttime and Leptis comes to bed.

The letter is in Leptis’s hand and her face is furious. “Do you plan to leave me soon? Or is that just one of the many things you can not tell me?”

Leptis’ voice grows louder with each word. She holds the letter over the flame of a candle. The corner burns. Tebe takes the letter from her and mutters latin to extinguish the flame.

“The letter is only a matter of prudence,” Tebe says.

“‘Words became powerful the second they are shaped,’” Leptis says. “You tell that to every girl you teach witchcraft to.”

“You will wake the girls and bring them all to the door if you do not lower your voice,” Tebe says. Tebe takes a book from her bookshelf, places the letter inside and puts the book back.

Leptis lowers her voice. It is ice cold. “You do not think of this place as my home.”

“Of course this is your home,” Tebe replies.

“But you think that one day I will leave? That I will leave the girls, Ade, Valente? Our family? I told you that your battle is mine.”

Tebe steps towards Leptis and places her hand on her cheek. “I only thought perhaps . . . You left your last home after you lost someone that was close to you.”

Tebe wants to tell Leptis that she wrote the letter because it is the kind of letter husbands write to their wives before battle and Leptis is her wife in everything but name, but Tebe can not find the words. Instead she kisses Leptis on the lips and tells her to come to bed.


	2. Chapter 2

_**The Candles** (set before the start of the first episode when they find the dead deer)_

Leptis wakes in the night. The candle on the wall is aflame, even though she blew it out before getting into bed. After a few seconds, it goes out. And then, after another few seconds, it reignites. 

Tebe is muttering Latin in her sleep.

Again. 

Leptis knows soon Tebe will calm and the candles will stop flickering, so she closes her eyes. 

A book thumps to the floor.

Leptis eyes open once more and sits up. Next to her, Tebe jolts awake. She is confused, until she sees the candle aflame and remembers part of her dream. She must have cast an enchantment. 

“You have been unsettled for weeks now,” Leptis says to Tebe. “Can’t you tell me about what is it? What is coming?”

“I’m not sure,” Tebe replies. “Not entirely. But it will be any day now. And then everything will change.”

Leptis is used to accepting Tebe’s cryptic answers. She replies pragmatically. “If it is fated, then there is nothing we can do until the future reveals itself.” 

Leptis lies back down to sleep. Tebe speaks Latin. The candle goes out. The book rises in the air and returns to the bookshelf. 

The following night, when the candle alights again, Leptis laughs to herself in the darkness. There is nothing they can do yet except stock up on fresh candles. 


	3. Chapter 3

_**Ash** _

After they escape execution, after Luxor’s baptism, there is a quiet period of rest and recovery. The girls bathe and sleep. When night comes, Leptis goes outside and sets fire to the black dress with the red cross, burning it to ash. Tebe stands a few steps away from Leptis, giving her space. The witches have their baptisms, Leptis has her fires. This is her own ritual. This is how she expunges the past. 

Smoke catches Tebe’s eyes and makes them water. It reminds her of how she had not cried when Leptis was captured. She had not let herself. To cry was to admit defeat, to accept that they had killed Leptis. Tebe had laid alone in her and Leptis’s bed, unable to sleep. She knew she needed the energy for the challenges of tomorrow, but she turned and twisted in bed for hours.

Eventually, she gave up and went to Janara’s room. Janara did not need to ask her questions. They understood each other without words and sat together in silence until dawn.

When the flames start to die down, Tebe takes Leptis’s hand - just as she had several years ago after Leptis burnt down her house - and together they walk away from the ash. 


	4. Chapter 4

_**Snow** _

”What if you catch a cold again?” Leptis asks Luxor.

”I’m stronger now.” Luxor replies. “Look.” She wraps her arms around Leptis and tries to lift her up. Leptis stays on the ground. Luxor steps back and smiles sweetly. “ _Please_ let me go.” 

”You have study with Tebe soon,” Leptis says, but she is smiling too. 

“I have study with Tebe _everyday_.” Luxor pulls a face. Since her baptism, Luxor has started the witch’s equivalent of school. Leptis teaches her archery, Janara teaches her sword-fighting and Luxor works on her magic with the other girls as well as in private study sessions with Tebe. She still manages to draw numerous drawings, though. Her bedroom wall is covered.

There is more than one reason that her days are so busy. Shortly after they returned to the Lost Cities from the town, Ade announced that she was leaving. She had to have some time on her own, time to properly process the revelations of last few weeks. She promised to return, but she did not say when.

The older witches are trying to distract Luxor from thinking about Ade. Missing someone you love can make you feel very lonely, even if you have friends and family around you, Tebe had told Leptis when Leptis had questioned if all this training was too much for the young Luxor. Tebe said that it was best that time went quickly for Luxor. 

When Letpis had been captured, every minute without Leptis had felt like an hour. Tebe also knew Leptis and Luxor didn’t always train rigorously. She often saw them laughing and talking. She would never say it aloud, but she loved watching Leptis and Luxor. To watch the people you love in a moment of joy is always a blessing. 

Luxor has just finished her morning archery with Leptis. It has begun to snow, fast and thick. Luxor wants to go out and play. 

“Ask Tebe,” Leptis tells Luxor. 

Luxor runs off to find Tebe and ask her. Tebe puts down her quill and considers the restless child in front of her. Luxor is stepping from foot to foot, bursting with anticipation. 

“Have you asked Leptis?” Tebe says.

Leptis voice comes from the door. “It will be good for all the all girls to let go of some energy. They have all worked so hard.”

”Very well,” Tebe says. “But don’t stay out too long”. Luxor squeals in excitement and grabs Leptis by the hand. “Let’s go find the others.” 

*

Tebe hears the clamour of the other girls as they dress and leave to go outside. All of them sound delighted. However, she continues to write. She takes her writing very seriously. She keeps a official record of the Lost Cities. It is important that the witches write their own side of history.

She also keeps a diary. Since paper is precious, she writes in a code of symbols and numbers to save space. The code also gives her the privacy to express her anxieties. She writes as a way to take stock of what has passed and to log her preparations and predictions for the future.

Leptis had once referred to the pages of Tebe’s diary as her “secret battle plans”.

Tebe, for today, stops writing. Without the scratch of her quill, the building is completely silent. Curiosity finally overcomes her. She goes in search of the other women playing outside in the snow. 

She sees an expanse of white. No people. But there are many footprints in the snow and there is a statue made of snow. Tebe steps forward to trace the familiar features. The statue is of Leptis. Luxor’s handiwork, no doubt. And although Luxor is an excellent artist, the statue is so intricate Luxor must have used magic. Later, however she will swear she did not. Tebe thinks the statue is a beautiful creation either way.

She is still curious about the whereabouts of the women, until she hears a loud roar from her left. Janara. The sound is met from a chorus of screams from Tebe’s right. Suddenly, Janara appears from the left, red hair flying wild as she runs. Persepolis and Petra follow her, running and roaring too.

Opposite them, to Tebe’s right, Leptis, Luxor, Aquileia and Segesta appear, running to meet the other women in the middle. 

Snowballs fly high in the air. The great battle between the two sides begins. 

Tebe can not help put smile as she watches her family in front of her. It is good to see them joyful after the hardships of the past few weeks. It warms Tebe’s heart.

Tebe watches as Leptis’s fixed look of concentration she is always determined to win in whatever battle she fights - dissolves into laughter. When Tebe and Leptis first met, soon after Leptis discovered the death of her brother and burned down her house, there had been a great weight on Leptis’s shoulders. She still had her fierceness, but there was a deep melancholy beneath her armour. 

Leptis had told Tebe that she had a happy childhood, her and brother were always playing games together, cooking up mischief. Tebe watches Leptis throw snowballs and wonders if that’s how she played as a child, so wild and so free. 

Tebe does not want to interrupt the girls from their game, so she turns around in the direction of the building.

She only takes a few footsteps before a snowball hits her square on the back. Her body whips around. The women and Luxor stand frozen. No one says a word. Only one person would have dared strike her. Tebe mutters Latin and a perfectly round snowball forms in her hand. She aims it at Leptis, but Leptis is quick and side steps away from the hit.

Tebe kneels down and claws out a handful of snow from the ground. Forget spells and grace. She will fight wild. She aims another snowball at Leptis which Leptis returns. Luxor, defending Leptis’s honour, also throws one at Tebe.  The other women rejoin the fight. The silence breaks into roars and squeals and laughter. 

Later they all sit, tired but happy, around the table and eat. A great fire crackles in the hearth and the girls chatter like they have all been sisters for years. Tebe is quieter, more observant, as if she has sensed something, as if she is waiting for something. 

That evening, to the disappointment of Luxor, the snow turns to rain and the rain begins to wash it away. She is not sad for long however. At the end of breakfast the next day, the door opens and Ade appears. She has returned. 


	5. Chapter 5

_**The Academy** (modern school AU - part one) _

Leptis arrives late at the castle. Her arms ache from carrying suitcases. She has walked for what seems miles. The castle is in the middle of nowhere. The headmistress warned Leptis in their letters. She gave her the directions to a secret entrance in the castle grounds and a password to speak aloud to open the entrance. The headmistress had not mentioned that the entrance was a good walk away from the castle. 

When she arrives, the courtyard is empty and silent. The students have already gone inside and started classes. Thankfully, Leptis starts teaching tomorrow. The headmistress thought today would be better spent settling in.

Leptis stands at the footsteps of the castle, wondering about how many stairs she will have to carry her suitcases up. A red-haired woman comes out of the great front door and introduces herself as Janara, deputy headmistress. She waves a hand over Leptis’s suitcases and they disappear to Leptis’s new room. She tells Leptis that the headmistress is giving the morning assembly now and that she will take Leptis to wait in the headmistress’s office.

The office looks frozen in time. There are wooden chairs and a wooden desk, an unlit fireplace, candles on the walls, crystal balls, bookshelves full of old, dusty leather-bound books, runes and feathers hanging from ribbons tied to the ceiling . . . and is that an actual quill? 

Leptis remembers a letter Tebe had sent her, detailing the curriculum at The Academy of Witchcraft for 16 to 21 year old women.

Core: _Incantation, Astrology, History of Witchcraft, Elixirs, Metamorphosis and Horse-Riding._

Additional: _Advanced Latin_ , _Music and Dance, Medicine, Fencing and Botany_

Of course there will be one more class now added to the curriculum, Leptis’s subject, Art. 

Leptis wonders if all the classrooms in the school look frozen in time too. Do the students use quills as well?

Suddenly, the door behind Leptis creaks open and a woman appears. She has long, white hair and is dressed in a long black dress and a black robe. Leptis panics slightly. Janara wore a dress and robe too. 

“Everything okay?” Tebe asks Leptis.

Leptis looks down at her outfit, a crisp, tailored power suit in bright red. Perfect, she had thought, for a confident new start in an unfamiliar place.

“I forgot to ask,” Leptis says. “Is there a staff dress code?”

Tebe’s face turns grave. “I must tell you that red clothing is forbidden as it is deemed a highly unlucky colour amongst witches.”

Leptis’s closes her eyes for a second, wishing for the ground to swallow her up. This is the worst possible start to a new job.

”I’m only joking,” Tebe laughs, moving to sit beside her desk and gesturing for Leptis to also take a seat. “There is no staff dress code. Wear what is most practical and comfortable for you.”

”Is it bad to say I half-expected the uniform to involve pointy hats?” Leptis says. 

”Oh, we reserve our pointy hats for only very special occasions,” Tebe smirks. “Now shall I show you round?”

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone’s up to just fangirl about Leptis and Tebe with me, I’m all ears.
> 
> Also does anyone know what the actresses are saying during their cast interviews on youtube??? Particularly Manuela Mandracchia because I have a big lesbian crush.


End file.
